Lie Detector - A Divergent FanFiction
by clivedve
Summary: AU Where the characters from Divergent are in college. Includes FourTris! No factions. T for alcohol and suggestive themes...at some point.
1. Chapter 1

He wasn't sure why he decided to make a fool of himself every week and upload himself singing, but he was sure it paid off when he met his roommate.

"Hi! I'm Tris!" A bubbly girl, with short-ish brown hair stuck her hand out at him as they met. He was unaware that he'd signed up for co-ed housing; anything to meet girls, though.

"...Hey, Tris," The boy was a little bit taken aback by her sudden introduction, but he went with it. "I'm Four. I guess we're sleeping together."

"Um..." She looked incredibly uncomfortable, and started to retract her arms into a folded position.

"Not like that! Not like that at all. I meant- what I wanted to say was... oh god. I've ruined it now, right?"

"What you meant to say, was that we're sharing a room," She raised her right eyebrow at him. "right?"

"Yes, yes, yes. I'm so sorry. This is going to be a _great_ rooming experience, now.."

She chuckles at his sudden sheepishness, and says, "I'm sure it'll be fine."

"So.."

"Er.."

"What's your major, Tris?"

"Psychology! It's always been something I wanted to do, I've always wanted to help people," She gleamed, talking about her passion. "what about you, Four?"

"Physiology, specifically, in sports. I love sports, and like you, I love helping people out."

"Ah! Cool! Have you got your timetable yet?" She questions, cocking her head to the right slightly.

"I was gonna go after this - lets go."

"Okay!"

"Hey! Tris!" A medium height boy, obviously also a freshman, shouts at the girl was a few metres away.

"Oh! Hey Uri. This is Four, my roommate."

"How do you do... _Four?_"

"That is my name, yes," Four smirks, "I'm good thanks. Yourself?"

"Good! I was wondering, Tris, if you wanted to come to a freshman party tonight? Some senior called Al is organising it. Its at the big scary frat house across from the stadium," He shudders for some reason, then looks at Four. "You can come too, if you'd like."

"Sure! You _have_ to come, Four! You gotta meet all my friends!"

"Alright. We'll be there tonight."

"Sweet! See you then, guys!"

Four was surprised at the sudden contact with all these people; he had never been a people person and wasn't planning to start in college. People change, he supposed.

"Wow, first day and a party already!" Tris looks extremely excited, and checks her watch. "Six? Already? Well, I'm gonna have to organise my boxes if I ought to wear something worthy!"

"Me too." Four spins and walks back to their room, and Tris trails him - no surprises there, though.

Once they reach their room, it seems a lot smaller now that boxes are in it. Tris' boxes are all marked, so she wont have any trouble finding an outfit; but Four's are everywhere, unmarked, left to the gods to know what they contain. He sighs, tearing open the first one with pure muscle strength - Tris, however, has more trouble, having to use her house keys to open up the tape. Four is lucky, the first box being half of his clothing; he picks out a simple yet casual outfit.

"Got something, Tris?" He shouts at half volume, to behind his back, before turning around. Tris stands there, and when she notices he is looking at her, covers her barely clothed self with what she will be wearing.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry. I'll let you get dressed... maybe we should get a divider for when we are changing?"

"Yeah, maybe. You can look now, I'm dressed." Four turns around again, for some reason more careful this time, and looks at Tris' outfit. Black lace dress with small white heels; simple, yet she looks beautiful to him.

"W-wow.. Tris, you look amazing."

"Thank you! And you do too..." she points to his polo shirt and short outfit, and he laughs.

"I have nothing better, don't worry."

They chat for a bit, unpack a little more, and soon enough it looks a bit more like home for them.

"Hey, its 8 PM now," Tris says, picking up her keys and phone. "Should we go?"

"Yeah, okay. Lets go!" It kind of feels, to Four, like they're on a date - but he needn't get ahead of himself.

"Four! This is Zeke, Will, Marlene, Christina, and Uriah who you met earlier, we were all best friends in high school!"

"Hey everyone." Four responds, taking a sip of the warm-ish beer in the cup he holds.

"Heeey!" They all respond simultaneously, making Four laugh.

"Hey, hey, we have a new buddy! You know what we should do?" An obviously drunk Zeke spouts.

"Do _not_ say Spin The Bottle." Christina rolls her eyes at him.

"No, silly! Truth or Dare!"

"Okay, okay. Lets go. First bedroom up the stairs, I gotta refill." Uriah says. Obviously he lives here.

They all pile into the room, sitting on the surprisingly spacious floor in a circle. Four felt slightly out of place, but he was sure it'd be fine in a while.

Uriah bursts in the door, laughing at someone in the corridor, and slams it behind him.

"Who is _ready!? "_

"Woooo!" Everyone except Four shouts. No one notices, however.

"Okay... Four, you're new, you go first!" Everyone laughs for some reason. "Four, truth or dare?" Uriah asks.

"Dare."

"Okay, I dare you to kiss your new _roommate_ Tris!"

"Do I have to?"

"We play strip, if you don't want to, you gotta strip down!" Marlene interjects, finally.

"Alright, fine. I don't wanna do that, so." Four leans over to Tris, she doesn't looked phased, just drunk. Four was sure he was the only sober one there. Tris and him met lips, and stayed like that for a good few moments - surprising not only them but everyone else in the room. At first people cheered and jeered but then they started yelling 'get a room!' and stuff, so they pulled apart.

But there was _definitely_ something there.


	2. Chapter 2

The truth or dare game seemed to go on for an eternity. Four kept stealing quick glances at Tris to see if she was looking back at him. He couldn't stop thinking about that kiss. Sure, he had only known Tris for less than a day, but as soon as their lips meant, he felt something. Something he had never felt before.

The truth or dare questions kept flying through the room like paper aeroplanes on steroids. Four wasn't listening to them though. Instead, he was staring outside the window, looking at the sparkling stars.

"Four? _Four!_" Tris asks him.

"Oh, yes? Sorry." he replies, snapping out of his daze. He looks straight into Tris' eyes, slightly groggy with the effect of the alcohol.

"You okay?" she asks, giving him a faint smile through her dizziness.

"Peachy." he replies.

"Truth or dare?"

"Umm, truth?" Four asks her as a question. She shoots back a questioning look, as if to remind for that _he _was answering the question before continuing.

"Tell me what you were thinking about just now." she asks. As much as she didn't want to, she couldn't help but stare at Four while he was looking outside with that peaceful, yet stern look on his face. There was something unique and, dare she say it, attractive about it.

Four pauses for a second before answering. As much as he wanted to abide by the rules of the game, he couldn't bring himself to tell them exactly what he was thinking about; Tris.

"I was just looking at how pretty the stars are tonight." he replies, shrugging naturally. Four was always a good liar. He had to use the skill himself a lot back at home. Tris stares at him with a look of disappointed. She couldn't possibly know that he was lying, could she?

Uriah, who sits across the room, snickers a bit.

"The stars? Seriously?" he scoffs. Anger builds up inside Four. Little he knows how much the stars helped him get through the last 18 years of his life. Little he cares. Four glares at Uriah with as much hate as he can muster with a single look. Uriah laughs a bit again, as if to tell Four that he's failing in scaring him.

"Shut up Uriah." Tris says, coming to Four's defence. This seems to work, as Uriah looks down at his feet.

"You know what, it's getting late. I'm going to head back to the room. Classes start tomorrow, anyway." Four says, excusing himself from what could turn into a very awkward situation. A mumble of goodbyes fly across the room as he leaves the slightly beer stained smell behind him and walks back to his shared room with Tris. Just as he puts the key into the door, a small hand places itself on his shoulder.

"Hey." Tris says, quietly.

"Hi there." he says, taking a short breath.

"I'm sorry about Uriah." she says, honestly. Although Uriah seems fun to be around, he doesn't have much of a filter between his head and his mouth.

"It's fine. It wasn't your fault anyway." he replies casually, opening the door and letting Tris walk in first before shutting the door behind them.

"Classes tomorrow." Tris states, sighing a little. Four sighs too, remembering the horrible 13 years that he had to spend at school. Too many memories that he was glad to leave behind in Oklahoma. Chicago is the place for a new start - to become a new person, even. College is a different kettle of fish, at least that's what he hopes.

"Yeah." he replies, flopping on his bed. He watches Tris walk into the bathroom to get herself ready for bed.

Four grabs his laptop from his bedside table and opens to his youtube channel that he started two years ago. So far, he has 200,000 subscribers. It was nothing special at first, just somewhere that he could express himself without others judging him for his past, present or future. But in the last few months, the channel has blown up. People are asking him to sing in public venues across the country. Every time, he has declined though. It started has a hobby, and Four intended for it to stay that way. Besides, he isn't here at college studying physiology for nothing.

He clicks on his most recent upload: Let Me In by Grouplove - cover by Four Eaton. 112,086 views so far. Not too shabby.

Out of curiosity, he looks up Tris Prior in the youtube search bar. He scrolls through the returned searches. Only one video catches his eye: Tris Prior sings Up by Olly Murs ft. Demi Lovato. There she is, her face looking down at her acoustic guitar. Tris can _sing_? She must be pretty good for the video to have 25,355 views.

In a flash, Four whips out his earbuds and rams them into his computer. He presses her channel name, Tris Prior. She has 256 subscribers. He then looks at the upload section. Only one upload. Four goes back onto the video, dated 6 months ago, and presses play.

"Hi everyone, I'm Tris, an 18 year old kid from Chicago. Today I'm going to be singing Up by Olly Murs featuring Demi Lovato. Leave any comments below and if you think my crappy singing is good, which I can't imagine, subscribe and like." Tris says in the video.

"Tris just start singing!" a voice says from behind the camera.

"Shut up Christina! I'm only doing this for you!" Tris shouts to the girl, Christina, before picking up her guitar and starting the intro.

"I drew a broken heart…right on your window pane. Waited for your reply, here in the pouring rain. Just breathe against the…."

"Four what are you listening to?" Tris asks him, sitting down on his bed. Quickly whipping his laptop closed, he replies as naturally as possible. Tris wears a black tank top with some loose fitting shorts. Her hair is tied up in a high pony tail and her face scarce of makeup. She looks natural, almost carefree.

"Just some music. Helps calm me, I suppose." he replies. Tris raises her eyebrows at him, laughing a little.

"Enough with the lies, Four. I can see straight through you." she says, walking to the door frame of her small room, identical to mine. The room makes Four feel slightly claustrophobic, but he convinced himself that he'll get used to it.

A normal person would be scared of someone being able to see straight through you, but not Four. Four didn't mind the fact that Tris could tell he was lying. In fact, he liked how perceptive she seemed to be.

"Maybe one day I'll tell you more about why I lie so much." he replies, staring straight into Tris' grey-blue eyes, whilst Tris looks straight back at him.

"I'd like that."


	3. Chapter 3

Tris wakes up much earlier than Four; instead of lazing around, she decides to jog around campus to get a feel for the place before her first class. Of course, it's Psych 101, at 8AM - it's currently 5:30, so she has nothing to worry about in regards to time.

She feels a bit groggy at first, warming up to her usual medium pace, until she feels a tap on her shoulder and she just about loses it.

"Hey," Holy shit, it's just Four, she thinks to herself. Outwardly, she rolls her eyes at him. "saw you out the window, thought I'd join you."

"Right. Hey," Her feet hit the pavement in perfect time with his; for a second, maybe, she feels a weird sort of connection between their rhythms, but she dismisses it as a deluded thought. "have you had breakfast yet?"

"No, we should probably swing by if the cafeteria is open."

"Yeah. Lets go." For once, Tris is being rather blunt, much like Four usually is - and she sharply changes directions, causing Four to trip over his own feet. Tris mumbles something of an apology but keeps going at the same pace while he catches up.

They stop jogging and walk normally into the food area, not even bothering to grab trays. They pick up a muffin and orange juice each, and chuck them in a bag to bring back to their dorm.

"How'd you sleep?" Four asks; ever since they had kissed, it's like that gave him a pass into asking questions and actually... talking. Not like him; well, at least, not like the Four that Tris had known for what, a day?

"Yeah, fine. A little nervous but it's really no big deal," He looked at Tris, a little bit of confusion poking through on his face. "class, I mean. Class."

"Oh, right, yeah. I am a bit, too, but we don't start practical work until next semester, so nothing huge." He is making such a big effort to keep up conversation, but Tris just isn't in the mood for it. She just nods and they keep walking back to their room.

When they get back, they each sit on their bunk beds, eating their muffins, Tris likes to nibble the edges and then break bits off; however Four just bites right into it, getting a huge mouthful of it. This inevitably means he is done before Tris, and he opens up the closet, going to his side. He picks out a smart casual outfit of some basic shorts and a short sleeved button down; Four's muscles are quite a sight, especially under this shirt. But for some reason, today, he doesn't want to attract any attention from any girls but Tris.

Tris doesn't even notice his perfect physique as they both change into outfits. Both of them compulsively check the clock; 7:54.

"We should go," Tris throws her Macbook into her bag along with a small notebook and a pen. "we'll be late, otherwise."

"Yep. Will you be here after?"

"Yeah, probably, I'll see you then. I only have this one class today."

"Same, See you, Tris." He says, she waves goodbye and he leaves just a minute after her.

When Four gets back, he opens up his laptop, logs in, and minimises his minimal notes. He clicks on the bookmark to his Wordpress dashboard, and begins to type up a new post. He has more readers on this blog than subs on YouTube, but, he enjoys both - so it works out well for Four.

"Hey, everyone!

So, I'm in college, doing physiology. I really wanted to do music, but my dad threatened me if I did, so I decided to go down my second path. Yeah, I am not that passionate about it, but I guess it is good too!

My roommate is a little bit, well, talkative. Usually, that is. Anyway, she is a girl and stuff, so it's a bit weird, but it's going fine. So far.

Anyway, I don't know how often I'll be able to do singing videos! I think there is recording studios for hire, on campus, but the availability is another story. I'll see, I just don't want to let you lovely people down!

Okay, I'll keep each of you updated. Love you all of course, and I'll see you soon, hopefully!

Love, Four Eaton, or StraightUpFour."

He hits submit, just as Tris walks back into the room, dumping her bag onto the top bunk and swinging into the lower one.

"Bad class?"

"Oh man! Everyone hates me, I swear. No one wanted to sit with me, and I was so nice.."

"I'm sorry... I'm sure it will perk up! Remember, you have plenty of classes. And college isn't all about being social."

"True. Thanks," Tris looks over at him. "what were you doing on your laptop?"

"Oh nothing, just typing up a few notes that I forgot to write down." Four lies through gritted teeth.

"I know you're hiding something, I just hope it's not something... you know. Dirty." She scrunches up her face, and shakes her head, a few strands of hair falling out of the bun.

"It's not! I actually was doing notes, see?" He spins around his laptop on his legs, and she nods, but it doesn't seem like she believes him as much as he would like her to.

They both sit an awkward silence, just thinking, before their door bursts open and they both jump, bewildered at the sudden noise.

"Tris!" Christina runs in, tackling Tris back onto her bed. "Oh Tris, you'll never guess what happened. I had my first class, right? Nursing. Anyway, I got kicked out and I'm not allowed back for a whole week," Christina rolls over onto Tris mattress, sighing. "my life is over, Tris! It's the first day and I'm basically out forever."

"Hey now? You're not, it's only a week. You will go back and show everyone that you have what it takes to become Chicago's best nurse. You just wait and see!" Ever since she saw Christina, Tris perked up. Tris pretends to cast a magic spell to make her friend feel better, and they both giggle like little girls. They had forgotten Four was in the room, but he was on his blog anyway.

Four scrolled down to the comments of his earlier post; lots of support, a few annoyed comments, saying he is selling out. Which isn't true; he'd never played a gig or accepted money from his singing once, so. Take that.

"Tris, can you come to the mall with me? I need some retail therapy." Christina pouts, sitting up.

"Yeah, alright," Tris eyes Four and his computer suspiciously, before saying, "see you, Four."

"Bye guys, have fun! Feel better Christina." Four does his best to sound chipper and full of life.

Five minutes after they leave, he realises it would be the perfect time to do a recording, to please his subscribers. He has a list of songs he would like to do; and at the top is Skin by Theo James. Four had always wanted to do it, yet every time he recorded it there was something.. wrong, with it. But he figured he may as well give it a shot. Four double checked that the door was closed and locked, and set up his camera and grabbed his guitar, pressing record.

"Hey, Straight Up Four here with another cover. This week, a song I have tried many times but hopefully I'll be able to get it perfect today. Skin, by Theo James. Enjoy." Four flashes a smile at the camera, and looks down at his guitar.

His slender fingers play the strings without pause, making sounds that are so much better than his previous attempts. He looses himself in the intro, and then, begins to sing.

"Back on the track of a thousand dreams,

And I walk through the water or that's what it seems.

When I stop to breathe the air, oh,

goes through my mouth the fire in my head, oh." Four sings the notes almost perfectly, just like the angelic original. He exudes pride as he sings it, finally able to get the song right.

"You told me I'd be a better man than I was,

you told me I'd be a better man than I was, oh..

take me to the water, take me to the river

take me, oh, under your skin..." He continues the song, the whole way through, before finishing dramatically with an improvised guitar piece. Four, for once, is incredibly proud of himself.

"Thanks for watching - one more thing," Four swallows, hard. Why is he saying this? "This is dedicated to a girl named Tris at my college. She is sweet, pretty, and just overall very kind. Thank you for being my friend, Tris." And he stops recording, plugging the camera into his laptop.

The door opens, "Thanks for being my friend, too, Four." Tris says leaning on the doorframe, a smirk on her face. Shit, Four thinks to himself, what have I said?


	4. Chapter 4

Four looks at Tris with a shocked expression on his face, probably making him look like an idiot. But he didn't care; he was only staring at Tris. After a while, she laughs a bit.

"The walls here aren't very soundproof." she says, pointing to the door.

"Um, yeah, sorry Tris, I didn't mean to make you…uncomfortable or whatever." Four replies, stuttering on his words a bit.

"I didn't know you had a YouTube channel. Let me see some of your stuff!" she exclaims, changing the subject. This automatically makes Four smile - the message on the video didn't scare her.

"It's not really a big deal, I just do it as a hobby. Something to take my mind off…" he begins to explain.

"_No way! _Holes in the Sky is literally my favourite song. Play it, _play it_!" she shouts at him. Four laughs at Tris' eagerness before pressing on his video.

"Don't judge, please."

"Are you kidding? A small thing? Four, you have over 200,000 subscribers!" she says, whilst the into plays on the video.

As Four watches himself singing on the screen, he couldn't help but cringe a bit. He filmed this four months ago, yet it seemed as if he had changed so much then. To be honest, he had changed within the past two days. Ever since he met Tris. It's as if his life had something to head towards, to protect even. But Four just shrugs it off, it would be extremely irresponsible of him to grow such a relationship towards someone whom he hasn't even known for a week. Especially considering his life history.

The music fades out on the video and the screen goes black. Tris continues to stare at the laptop screen, completely mesmerised by what she just saw. She honesty thought she had heard the voice of an angel; he was amazing!

"Why the hell are you not doing something to do with music? You're literally the best person I have ever heard sing - who isn't professional." Tris says, as her eyes bulge out of her head in surprise.

Four laughs a bit at her reaction. "I originally wanted to, but…things change, I guess. Physiology interests me just as much." he explains.

Which was a complete lie. Although physiology was something that he could see himself during in the future, music was really the only thing he wanted to pursue. He didn't full out lie to Tris, he would never do that, he just wasn't ready to tell her the real reason he isn't, _couldn't_, do music here at college.

His father, Marcus Eaton.

But Tris seemed to know that he was lying, as if she had a sixth sense that allowed him to see straight through him. He was hiding something from her; something so big even he couldn't comprehend himself. Tris didn't know exactly what, but she was determined to find out. Sooner rather than later.

—

Four wakes up with sweat dripping off his face. After the events of last night, he couldn't stop replaying them through his mind.

Tris, his father, _Tris._

He is still surprised how Tris reacted to his message on the video. He never did get around to uploading it; it would be pointless now. She completely brushed it off after her initial statement. Is that a good thing, or a bad thing? He couldn't tell right now.

All he knew was that he had been thinking about her, and how much he loved being able to call her his friend. One of his _only _friends on campus, actually. Four was never good at socialising with others. Back at home, he spent most of his time locked up in his rectangle shaped cage, or what other's would call his house.

Four glances at his alarm clock on his bedside table. 4:40am. He was too awake to go back to sleep now, so instead jumps out of bed and throws a hoodie and tracksuit bottoms on, before walking into the kitchen. To his surprise, Tris sits on the couch drinking what looks like coffee.

She had been up since the early hours of the morning, writing. Whenever she had something on her mind, she had to get it down on paper. Sometimes, she'd even make up a character and put her into the situation instead of herself. Typically, she wrote a 10,000 word story about an event which has been expanded, and expanded upon to make her feel better about it.

One could argue that Tris was wasting her time, which she couldn't disagree with. Heck, she is doing a degree in physiology, not creative writing! Her time would be much better spent researching something to do with psychology, yet she always goes back to this method of expelling her thoughts.

Her glasses were perched on the tip of her nose and her fingers tapping on the keyboard at a rate that could only be described as inhumanly fast. She even won an award once for being the fastest typer in the grade, even if that was in grade 3. Tris had been writing since 3am, not 5 minutes after making her coffee to wake her up. So engrossed with her writing, she didn't even notice Four walk in.

"What are you writing, Tris?" he asks, making Tris jump out of her skin. Instantly, she takes her glasses off. She _never _wears them in front of people. Although she had nothing to be afraid of, she hated the fact that people could tease her because of them. Call her paranoid, she didn't care as long as people saw her as a well together human being, even if she was far, far from it.

"Nothing in particular. Just writing down thoughts." she replies, casually taking a sip of her coffee which burns the inside of her throat; just the way his liked it.

Tris was really writing about her new character, Mai, meeting a cute and seemingly insecure boy named Ryan at college. Ryan was studying for a major in Physiology, Mai was studying Phycology and they were rooming together.

Little did Four know that the character Ryan was actually himself.

"You're the fastest typer I've ever seen. You could almost hear it from my bedroom!" he exclaims.

"I highly doubt that." Tris replies, chuckling a bit.

"So, you're a glasses lady?" Four asks, picking up her glasses and examining them.

"Yeah," Tris admits, snatching them off him and putting them back on the table. "But they're only -3, and I generally wear contacts anyway."

"You look good with glasses, Tris. You should wear them more often," Four says, to which Tris scoffs a bit. "I'm serious! You do look good with them!"

"I don't know, I just feel subconscious about them." Tris says, putting her hands up in defeat.

"Do this one thing for me. One day, you have to wear your glasses instead of your contacts and see how many compliments you get from people."

"Fine. One day during the year!" Tris concedes, laughing a bit.

"Good. I'm looking forward to it. Now, I need to make some breakfast; I'm actually starving right now," Four says, walking over to the kitchen bench. "Any requests?"

"Do we have a blender?" Tris asks. One of the things that came with the room was access to some cooking utensils that other rooms might not have. Surprisingly, Four was a relatively experience chef. He had to cook 90% of the meals back at his old house for his father.

"Blender…..blender….hmm," Four says to himself, rifling through the cupboards. "Aha! We have a blender!"

"Could you make me a banana smoothie, please?" she asks, politely.

"Isn't that gonna taste crap after your coffee?" Four asks, just as Tris takes a sip from the yellow and white striped mug.

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

Four grabs two bananas from the fruit bowl that Tris and himself had filled up yesterday. Once those are in, he adds some oats, yoghurt, nuts and milk before blending it all together and separating it into two cups.

"Bonne appetite!" he says, setting Tris' cup on the table.

"Merci beaucoup, monsieur!" Tris thanks him, going along with the French theme.

Everything with Tris and Four seemed to go so smoothly. Every conversation, every laugh. It was if they were meant to be roommates, to be friends with each other.

Maybe even more than that.


	5. Chapter 5

two months later~~

Four was finally ready to face something he'd been putting up since the first day of college; to ask Tris out. He was scared.

So scared.

Yet, he told himself that his life depended on it; well, okay, perhaps not his life, but his mental wellbeing. Because not being with Tris as something more than friends, more than roommates, more than students, was eating him up inside. He was lucky to have her in his life at all though; that reason being why he put it off for so long. He was afraid it would be awkward for them as roommates.

He could power through it; Four was a strong man, Tris was never afraid of silence. It would work out either way.

That's what Four told himself, anyway.

When he finally got up the nerve to ask her as he had planned, she was laying on her side on her laptop, humming a tune he swore he'd heard before. He tapped his fingers on his thighs lightly, as a way to exert the nerves that ate him up. He breathed out, closed his eyes, and cleared his throat. Tris glances up at him, as if she was waiting; so he continued.

"Hey, Tris, I gotta... ask you, something." He has the ball rolling now; no backing out.

"Yep?" She smiled, lowering her laptop lid, and giving him her full attention.

"Well, ever since I met you, Tris.." She raised her eyebrows, but not in a rude way. "I like you, okay? I think you're lovely, you're such a good friend, and I think we should be more than that. If you want."

"Oh my god..." Four's heart panged. I've read her wrong, it's a mistake. I-, His thoughts interrupted by speech. "Yes, a thousand times yes, I love you Four. I was planning to ask you that same thing today, timing much?" She giggles, getting up and sitting by him.

"So... do you think, maybe, we are girlfriend and boyfriend now? Sorry," She blushes, covering her eyes with her hand for a moment, "I've never been asked out before! I don't know how it works."

"Of course, Tris. Of course you are."

"This is possibly, the most exciting moment in my life. Thank you, Four."

"No.. thank you, Tris, for breaking down the barriers I put up for so long. I didn't have an easy childhood... Marcus, and all. Thank you for letting me let you in."

Tris pulls him in for an embrace, "It's okay. I'm glad you're not with that bastard anymore. I am so thankful you are okay. I love you. I love you."

"I love you too, Tris." Four feels uneasy; a secret he wants, needs, to tell her. A secret no one else knows.

"One more thing?" He says.

"Yes, Four?"

"I kinda... have a secret. No one knows," He shudders a bit; this is more nerve wracking than actually asking her out. "My name isn't Four."

"What is it?" She doesn't seem phased at all.

"Tobias." He says it in a very hushed fashion, as if he is talking about a huge secret about the government, or something. But it's just a name; Tris wondered what the significance was. After all, she needed to know the story, she always does.

"Okay... that's such a cute name though. Can I call you it with other people around?"

"Please don't, it's for my identity as an Eaton. Please."

"That's cool, that's fine, Tobias." She giggles lightly, in a sleepy kind of way. "Ah shit, I gotta go to class, babe. I'll see you later."

"Bye!" She walks out the door, closing it quietly behind her. Tobias immediately pulls out his camera and starts to record.

"Hey guys, just a quick life update. Tris, the girl on my dreams, said yes to my date proposal. I'm so excited! I cannot believe it." Tobias continues to go on about his physiology classes and his job, talking about general life stuff, before signing off. He turns the camera off and immediately plugs it into the computer, and edits. It's up on StraightUpFour by the time Tris is back from her class. 6pm; dinnertime.

"Tobias! Christina and Will have invited us out for dinner, lets go! It's at the Mexican restaurant, a really short walk from here. We can tell them about us!"

"Okay, cool, lets roll out then." He slings his arm around her waist, and they lock their door behind them.

When the arrive at the restaurant, they are greeted by the two friends, and are seated almost immediately. They order drinks and courses, and when the drinks arrive, a chorus of 'cheers!' arrives too. They all take their first sips, saying a gentle ah afterwards, and putting them down in sync.

"So, we need to tell you something." Tris says casually.

"Yeah? Christina is immediately inquisitive; Will, just lost in his thoughts. Christina clears her throat to get his attention, and Tris continues.

"T- Four... and I are... together. A couple."

"Oh my god! I knew it. I knew it would happen ever since truth or dare, Tris! Congrats! Oh my god, my best friend has a boyfriend!" She blushes. "I have a confession, too. Will and I are an item too."

"Oh my god, my best friend has a boyfriend!" Tris playfully mocks Chris' tone and they all chuckle. "Congrats, man. You did well."

Their food arrives as if on cue, and they dig in in happiness of chatting. No secrets; except for the whole name thing. But that doesn't matter, who cares.

Tobias does. Tris does.

Marcus doesn't.


	6. Chapter 6

A week after Tobias built up the guts to ask Tris out, they finally had a night that they weren't busy with assignments and studying that they could go out together.

Tobias decided to take Tris out to the park on the brink of the college grounds. The grassy field had a small sitting area in the middle of it. Although they really shouldn't be here at this time of night, they figured that no one would come past and interrupt them.

He leads Tris over to it, where he previously set up a small picnic for them both consisting of some sushi he bought from down the road and some chocolate fingers; Tris' favourite.

"This is so amazing!" Tris exclaims, taking in the lit grounds. It was just him and her, no one else to interrupt them.

For both Tobias and Tris, this whole 'dating' thing was completely new to them. The butterflies flew freely in their stomachs, but they tried to ignore them.

"As much as I'd like to watch the stars all night, I'm starving. Can we eat?" he asks. Tris nods, but still looks up at the stars. Tobias laughs at her, before grabbing her hand and effectively pulling her towards the food waiting for them.

They sit down on the picnic rug that Tobias had laid out.

"I wish we got to spend more time together," Tris says, taking a bite out of the sushi Tobias lays out for her. "I mean, we're roommates, but we're always doing work when we're at home, you know?"

"I know, I wish the same." he replies. They continue to eat their sushi in silence for a while. Once finished, Tobias can see Tris eying up the packet of chocolate fingers. In a blink of an eye, Tobias picks up the packet and runs out of the terrace and through the park. He wanted to have a little fun before digging into the chocolate fingers.

"Hey! What they hell are you doing?" Tris shouts, running after him.

"I'm running away with your chocolate!" he shouts back. Tris quickly hops up and comes running towards Tobias. He slightly underestimated how fast Tris could run, as before he knew it, Tris was reaching up to try and reach the chocolate that was above Tobias' head.

Tris hated being short. Tobias had used this trick before on her, so he knew that it annoyed her to no end.

"Tobias! Give me the food!" she says, laughing whilst jumping up to try and reach them. Tris looks up at him, trying to do her best puppy eyes.

"You just look angry, Tris." Tobias says, mocking her. Tris musters all of her energy and takes one final jump. This catches Tobias of guard, and she manages to knock it out of his hand and onto the floor. She sprints for them, but Tobias quickly grabs her by the waist and lifts her up. Tris screams with surprise before laughing hysterically. He spins her around a few times before setting her down. The chocolate fingers are completely forgotten has they look into each other's eyes.

"Do you remember that night were we went to Zeke's party?" Tobias asks Tris. She answers almost immediately.

"Of course I do!"

"Do you remember when we played truth or dare?"

"Yes!" Tris replies, excitedly. She knows where this is heading.

"Do you remember," he says, resting his forehead on her own. "When I did this?"

Tobias takes a plunge and softly presses his lips to Tris'. She immediately reciprocates and wraps her hands around his neck and Tobias' are firmly around her waist. Just as Tobias tries to deepen the kiss, they hear a shout behind them and quickly break away.

"Get in there Four!" Uriah shouts from the pathway on the way to the student housing.

"Oh come on! Uriah you just ruined it!" he shouts back.

"Use protection!" Zeke shouts, obviously walking back with his brother.

"Are you serious?!" Tris exclaims, getting more worked up by the second. Zeke and Uriah start laughing at Tris and Tobias' reaction.

"Excuse me you lot," another voice from along the path shouts that sounds exactly like Christina. "Just what do you think you're doing at this hour?"

"Go away Christina!" Tris shouts, moving back to the picnic. Tobias shoots Zeke and Uriah a dirty look before following Tris.

"Mr. Eaton! What are you doing?" the voice shouts. As Christina moves into the light of the street lights, Tobias sees an old lady wearing extremely high heels. Professor. McNichol.

"Oh! Good evening Professor. McNichol." Tobias says, trying to sound as pleasant as possible. Out of the corner off his eye, he sees Uriah and Zeke trying to quickly sneak away before being noticed.

"Zeke and Uriah, I wouldn't think about it." Mrs. McNichol says, not even turning to face them. They both stop in their tracks and remain completely still.

"Now, do you know what time it is Mr. Eaton?" she asks in a sickly sweet voice.

"I don't."

"It's is way too late for you to be out _canoodling_ with Miss Prior. In fact, I'd advice you not to be canoodling with Miss Prior at any time of the day."

"I'm sorry, we completely lost track of time." he says, trying to cover for himself.

"Be that as it may, you were still outside at this time. I don't know what you were thinking, Mr. Eaton, but this little act with not reflect kindly on you or your…girlfriend." she says, her expression neutral. Tobias freezes; this can't effect Tris. He knew as well as anyone how hard she worked. This would shatter all of that.

"Please professor, Tris did nothing wrong. It was my idea, she had nothing to do with it." Tobias pleas.

"Beatrice, Uriah and Zeke will be accompanying you to the principle's office tomorrow morning. Perhaps you can explain the scenario then," she suggests. "Please move directly to your rooms."

As Professor McNichol hobbles away in her high heels, Zeke and Uriah groan. They must have heard what the Professor told Tobias. As they trudge back to their separate rooms, Tobias turns around to see Tris standing near the picnic looking completely shocked. He walks over to her and gives her a long hug.

"I'm so sorry, Tris." he mumbles into her hair.

"I thought she was Christina." she whispers.

"So did I. It's okay though. When we go to the office tomorrow I'll sort it out."

"Tobias, you don't have to cover for me, it wasn't just your fault." she says, looking up at him.

"I just don't want to see you hurt, Tris." he says, lifting up her chin before pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

"You'll never have to as long as I'm with you."


	7. Chapter 7

It felt like I was in high school again. Not a positive experience for me.

As soon as Uriah and Zeke turned up, joshing around like it was nothing, my heart sunk further. They weren't sorry at all, as much as I was.

I didn't even know we had a principal. This is college. What are they… doing?

As soon as the door opens, my heart starts beating faster and faster. It doesn't matter… at all… but I'm still getting worried as hell.

"Ms. Prior? And.. company?" A bald, skinny man steps out of his doorway, ushering us inside.

"First off, I wanted to thank you for actually coming. No one does," Zeke and Uriah giggle, but the man glares at them. "And secondly, none of you are in trouble. Unless you two want to continue with that behaviour." I'm shocked by the fact that we're not in trouble, but I know that what he says next will be worse.

"I needed to let you know that Four Eaton is going to be expelled."

The words hit me with such surprise that I don't think I could process them all.

"Expelled? For what?" Uriah exclaims, a look of disgust on his face. Him and Four had been friends since high school after all; and I don't think he could get used to not seeing Four every day. As for Zeke - he was surprised, but not so much disgusted. or maybe he just didn't want to give it away.

"Last night finished off the whole thing, really. He's been accused of physical assault on campus, and frankly, we can't have a student like that on campus."

"Physical assault? Bullshit, he'd never do that!" I blurt out, my voice frantic and panicked.

"Ms Prior, please don't swear in my company." I roll my eyes and fold my arms into my chest.

This _cannot_ be happening.

"Sir, I don't think you realise that.. that… everyone makes mistakes! Besides, does anyone have proof that he hurt anyone?"

"Yes, Ms. Prior. CCTV footage. I'm sorry… what's your relationship with Four again?"

"We're dating."

"Oh, of course. I'm sure you'll see him plenty after he is expelled."

"Please don't do this, Sir."

"I'm sorry, it has to be done. Besides, it wasn't my decision - school board reviews it," He sighs, as if he's had to do this a million times already. "please make your way out. Four should be notified right now." He says that as soon as my phone starts buzzing; Four calling me.

"Hey…" I answer, uneasily.

"Shit, you know about it. Babe, I'm so sorry," It sounds like he's going to start crying at any moment, "I wish I could change it."

"It's okay, Four. Obviously what you did isn't okay, but, we're gonna be okay."

"No, you don't understand. I hurt them for you. It was Peter. It was him, again. He wants you dead, Tris."

"H-he what?"

"He wants you dead. He wants to torture you. I tried to tell them, I tried to tell anyone, but no one would take it. I;m sorry you had to find out now, but better late than never."

"Oh my god."

"I'm not gonna be around to protect you, and that's what scares me, Tris. I can't defend you when I'm not here."

"I'll be fine," I say as I feel my eyes tear up, "I have to go, Four. I'll see you in the room after my next class, okay?"

"Okay. Bye, Tris. Love you."

"Love you too." I whisper, almost inaudibly. But I know that only he heard it. He clicks the hang up button, and I breathe out, slowly.

By the time I'm at my next class, the denial and paranoia has already set it. You wouldn't think that something minor like this would affect me in such a way, but my heart aches for him. i can only imagine how Four feels right now, especially because it was all in defence.

Maybe if I tell them about Peter, they'll let Four stay. I sure hope so. I'm gonna do hat. I'm gonna do it.

I want to, at least.

The professor drones on, and on, and on about nothing particular; as usual. I get the feeling I'm gonna fail this class anyway, so what's the point in trying to listen? I'll just grab a copy of someone else's notes.

As I make my way back to the dorm, to meet Four, I notice the quietness of the hall. A few people milling around, but not many once my door is in sight. I wonder why this is the case; there are, like, 30 rooms in the building, but think nothing of it.

That is, until I hear a familiar whispering voice behind me. But it's too late when I put two and two together in my mind, and I see Four running towards me.

"Hello again, Beatrice," Peters' sickly voice crowds in my eardrums, "come to meet your fate. Say goodbye to your precious boyfriend."

"Peter," I struggle for air, and words, as he drags me by my neck. "don't do this to me, now. Please." I see Four getting dragged in the opposite direction, and I start to cry unknowingly as he waves goodbye.

"I love you," I try to scream after him, but I can't hear myself, and I can't see either. I don't know what's happening. I don't know what's going to happen, most importantly.


	8. Chapter 8

**Four's POV**

I am dragged away by one of Peter's 'friends'; away from Tris. Before I can stop myself, I give her a small wave as a sign of goodbye, just incase. But that's not what I really want, not at all.

With a final push, I retaliate against my attacker and push him to the ground before kicking him in the side. I forget about already being expelled for punching someone and instead rely on my instincts. A childhood of having to defend yourself has given me good skills for fighting back. Especially when you're fighting against your father.

Once I have dealt with my own attacker, I quickly run towards Tris and Peter. He will pay for this. I don't know what he wants from her, but I won't let it happen; ever.

I'm faster than Peter dragging Tris, so I catch up to them in an instant. I quickly punch Peter and he falls to the ground, unconscious. That was easier than I expected.

Without the weight of Peter supporting her, Tris collapses to the concrete ground. I run over to her and pick her up with ease.

"Tobias?" I hear her whisper, weakly.

"Yeah, it's me." I whisper back.

It has only been three hours since I dropped Tris off at the closest hospital, yet it seems like my entire life has flashed by. I've only known her for a relatively short amount of time, but during that time, we have bonded together in a way that neither of us have experienced before.

What happened after Tris and I went back to our room after our encounter with Professor McNichol seems like a complete blur. The events that occurred were so out of the ordinary, it was so very hard to process them all.

When Tris and I were walking back to our room, I decided to stay out for a bit and just calm myself down after what happened. I knew it wasn't what I should have been doing, seeing as if I was caught, it would be the end of the world.

I went through to the block where most of the lecture theatres are on campus. And who did I run into? Why, the one and only Peter Hayes.

I had only come across him a few times during the last few months. He was in a couple of my classes, and never seemed to take his eyes off me. At first I thought he was just intimidated, but I noticed that he was following me whenever I went back to my room. Something was up with him, but I had never been in a position to talk to him, until then.

"Hello, Four." his sickly voice had said when I was in talking distance.

"Good evening." I replied.

"I don't think I've ever formally introduced myself. My name is Peter Hayes. I'm attempting to complete the same course as you."

"Someone has been monitoring my movements closely, haven't you not?" I replied, not buying into whatever game he was trying to play with me.

"I was just curious. You see, you are rather close with someone who I have been looking forward to talking to for some time now." he said. I knew instantly it was Tris. Who else am I close enough with for him to notice?

"What do you want with her?"

"I don't think you need to know that. Let's just say that when I am through with her, I doubt that she will live."

"Why the hell would you want to kill her, you son of a bitch?" I asked, my voice raising. I mentally scolded myself afterwards. If someone had heard that…..

"Like I said before, you don't need to know." he replied. By this point, I was done with him. In one swift movement, I punched him square in the jaw, leaving him unconscious on the floor at my feet. And I didn't even feel one bit of sympathy for him. I had to tell someone about what he said to me. What he said could hurt Tris, and what hurts Tris hurts me too. I walked back to our room to find Tris in her bedroom, sound asleep.

In the morning, I woke up before Tris. She didn't have a class until later, and our trip to the principal's office wasn't for an hour, so I decided to go out for a run.

Almost as soon as I left the room, I see the Principal followed by a few school board members walk up to me. Crap, this can't be good.

"Good morning, Mr. Eaton." the Principal had said.

"Sir."

"I think you know what this is about. You're little scene with Peter Hayes late night."

"You saw that?"

"CCTV cameras saw that."

_Oh crap. _

"This is not something we tolerate here on campus. You must know what the consequences are."

And then I got asked to leave. I didn't really give it a chance to sink in. I just waited for the teachers to leave before I ran to the 'safety' of a tree in the park and sat there. Thinking about what I would do with my life.

Would I go back to live with my father - my abusive father? I don't know whether I'd be able to pay for anything else right now. Then suddenly, it occurred to me. Tris. Was she still okay? Had Peter got to her yet.

I decided to ring her, just to make sure. It's not like she can't take care of herself, I just felt that it was my responsibility to make sure that she was alright.

We had the conversation on the phone, where she had found out what was going to happen to me. She seemed heart-broken, and so was I.

By this point, I knew that Peter would be out for Tris. She was coming to our room, but that seemed too far away. Peter could easily get her whilst she was walking back. And then, my fear was realised.

Just as I turned a corner, I saw Peter coming behind Tris. I started running towards her as a sign of warning, but I knew that it wouldn't be enough. He started dragging Tris away, and before I knew it, one of his 'friends' started to pull me away too. For a second, I couldn't do anything but watch Tris and wonder why we were in that situation. When everything was going so well, why did this have to happen? It also made me wonder why Peter had it out for Tris. As far as I know, Peter and Tris have never encountered each other.

Then, I had the energy to retaliate, knock out Peter and his followers, and save Tris. Tris, who is now unconscious on the hospital bed beside me.

I have no idea where my life is heading now. But, after the loyalty that we've shown each other these past few hours, I know that it is with her.

"Tobias?" I hear someone weakly whisper from beside me. Tris.

"Hey." I reply, giving her a small smile. I watch her as she takes a moment to take in her surroundings.

"What happened?"

"That is a very good question."


End file.
